# UI/UX Design 🎨

> Deciding how apps and websites *look* and *feel* — making technology beautiful,
> friendly, and easy for people to use.

[← Back to all career paths](README.md)

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## What is it?

Have you ever used an app that was **confusing and frustrating**? Or one that felt so smooth
you didn't even have to think? That difference is **UI/UX design**.

- **UI (User Interface)** — how it *looks*: colours, buttons, fonts, spacing, layout.
- **UX (User Experience)** — how it *feels* to use: is it easy? clear? does it make sense?

> 🎨 A designer's job is to make sure technology works for **humans** — not the other way around.

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## What would I actually do?

- Talk to people to understand what they actually need
- Sketch screens on paper, then design them properly on a computer
- Choose colours, fonts, and layouts that feel right
- Build clickable **prototypes** to test ideas *before* any code is written
- Watch people use your design and improve the confusing parts

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## Is this me? ✅

You might love UI/UX design if you:

- Notice when things are ugly, confusing, or badly laid out
- Care about **people's feelings** and how they experience things
- Enjoy art, drawing, or making things look good
- Like solving problems creatively **and** logically

> 💡 You don't have to be able to code to be a great designer. Empathy and creativity come first.

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## Skills to build (in order)

1. **Design thinking** — start with the *user's* problem, not your solution
2. **Design basics** — colour, spacing, fonts (typography), and visual hierarchy
3. **A design tool** — **Figma** is free and the industry standard
4. **Wireframing & prototyping** — sketching screens and linking them together
5. **User testing** — watching people use your design
6. **A little HTML/CSS** (optional) — helps you work with developers

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## Free resources

- **[Figma](https://www.figma.com/)** — free, professional design tool used everywhere
- **[Figma's free beginner tutorials](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/categories/360002051613)**
- **[Google UX Design (Coursera)](https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-ux-design)** — audit for free
- **[Learn UX / Laws of UX](https://lawsofux.com/)** — friendly design principles
- **[Canva](https://www.canva.com/)** — great for practising colour and layout for free
- **[The Futur on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@thefutur)** — design career advice

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## Starter projects 🚀

All of these can be done in **Figma** for free.

1. **Redesign a school form** — take a boring paper form and make a clean digital version.
2. **Design a phone app for your school** — home screen, timetable, and news.
3. **Make a clickable prototype** — link 3 screens so buttons "work" when clicked.
4. **App makeover** — pick an app you find ugly and redesign one screen to be better.
5. **Design a poster or event page** — practise layout, colour, and fonts.

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## Your first steps (do these this week)

- [ ] Create a free [Figma](https://www.figma.com/) account
- [ ] Draw a phone screen on paper first, then rebuild it in Figma
- [ ] Design a simple "Sign Up" screen with a heading and two buttons
- [ ] Link two screens so clicking a button moves between them (Prototype mode)
- [ ] Pick an app you use and write down one thing you'd improve
- [ ] Learn the "less is more" rule — remove clutter from a design

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## Roles this can grow into

UI Designer • UX Designer • Product Designer • UX Researcher •
Interaction Designer • Design Lead

> 💡 Every great app needs a great designer. This field blends **creativity and technology** —
> perfect if you love art *and* problem-solving.